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G. H. POOR.

DRAW BAR P011 GARS.

No. 341,601. Patented May 11, 1886.

UNITED STATESv y PATENT OEEIcE.

GEORGE H. POOR, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAINT BRAKECOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

DRAW-BAR Fos CARS.

SPECEFICATIOjfoi-ming part of Letters Patent No. 341,601, dated May11,1886.

Application filed January 20, 1886. Serial No. 189,159. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: long as cars of low capacity-say twentythou- Be it known that I, GEORGE H. POOR, a sand pounds ortwenty-fivethousand poundscitizen of' the United States, residing at St. met thedemands of traffic the present form Louis, in the State of Missouri,have invented oi' draw-bar has sufiiciently well met the recertain newand usefullmprovementsinDrawquirements, because with great care it has55 Bars for Cars; and I hereby declare the folbeen possible wit-hinpractical limits to regulowing to be a full, clear, and exactdescriplate the force or power of the springs, by tion of the same,reference being had to the using a number of' springs to obtain thenecaceompanying drawings, illustrating the apessary ultimate resistancewith a practicable io plication of said invention, whereinamount ofresiliency or elasticity, so as to 6o Figure l is a plan View of a strapdraw-bar keep the loss of springs, strain, breakage of embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a vertilinks, and wear and tear within due bounds;cal longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 .but this rigidity or slowinitial yield of the is a plan, and Fig. 4 a Vertical longitudinalsprings has had its disadvantages in many section, of a stem draw-barhaving my invenrespects: First,in starting and stoppingloaded 65 tionapplied thereto. Figsand 6 are moditrains the engine and brakes have hadto fied forms of single and double springs, Wheremeet and overcome thedead weight or inertia by the same results may be obtained. Fig. 7 ofthe whole train, and not the individual shows another modification.weight of the several cars and gradual accu- 2@ Like letters refer tolike parts wherever mulation, as would be measurably the case if 7o theyoccur. the draw-bar spring yielded under low pressl In order that theobjects and advantages of ure first, instead of rapidly setting orclosing the present invention may hereinafter more toits ultimate pointof resistance, as it now fully appear, as well as its characteristicfeadoes, so as to make what may be termed a tures, it' will benccessary,-first, to briefiy redead77 or rigid7 pull or push from thestart; 75 cite the present state of the art and its atsecondly, thisrigid pull or dead weight reteudant disadvantages and objectionablefeasuits iu the frequent breaking of links and tures. pins, destructionof springs and draw-bars The present prevailing draw-barsthroughgenerally, racking of draw-bar timbers and 3o out the UnitedStates are the movable strapcar-beds, and many other objectionable fea-8o and-stem drawbars, wherein the movement tures, which will be readilyapparent to the of the bar is resisted by two or more drawrailroadmanager and need not be enumerated springs of equal length and power,confined here; thirdly, this' rigidity, dead weight, or between twofollowerplates, having limited inertia of the train has compelled theuse of movement in draw-bar guides secured to the more powerfullocomotives and prevented the 8 5 draw-bar timbers of the bed; and thesedraweconomical use of what is termed close coupbars must also have thefunctions of buffers, ling,77 such as the Janney and like coupasindependent buffers are not desirable or lings; finally, now that thedemand for cars generally admissible. The power or resistof fortythousand pounds to sixty thousand 4o ance of these draw-springs hasheretofore been pounds capacity is increasing, the problem 9o .adaptedand graded to the capacity of the car can no longer be solved bymultiplying the and has been uniform throughout. As a renumber ofdraw-springs, as will be apparent sult of this construction springswhich were to all railroad men. sufiiciently powerful lo give therequired ulti- The object ofthe present invention is, theremateresistance to the push or pull on a fore, to overcome the severalobjections and 95 loaded car lacked the elasticity and quickdisadvantages hereinbefore referred to, and action necessary to meetsudden strains or provide amovabledraw-l' ar and buffeuwhieh, jars,while springs having the elasticity to while possessingall thepowerwhich can possi` meet sudden jars or strains lacked the ultibly bedemanded,will also possess quick initial 5o mate resistance required forheavy loads. Se elasticity or resilience, so as to meet all sud- 1o denjars, strains, or shocks without breakage or derangement, and yet shallbe as simple, durable, efficient, and compact as the presentconstruction.

I will now proceed to described more specically the best means now knownto-me of carrying out my invention.

In the drawings, A indicates the draw-ti-m bers; I, the draw-bar guidessecured thereto; O, the stops for arresting and limiting the movement ofthe follower-plates; D D', the followenplatcs; E, the drawbar, withwhich may be used the strap F or the stem or bolt G, as preferred, andall of which may be as shown or of any equivalent or well-k now nconstruction.

H H indicate the drawsprings, which may occupy their usual posit-ion inthe combination; but in lieu of being the usual form I employ agraduated spring, which may be of any desired construction. For purposesof illustration three methods of securing this end havebeen shown. Twohelical springs of unequal length may be employed, nested one within theother, preferably the shorter within the longer.

I have obtained good results from a spring of the following dimensions,viz: an outer spring, H, coiled from one (l) inch material, diameter ofcoil six (6) inches, length of spring eight and one-quarter (Si) inches;an inner spring, Il', coiled from three-quarter (il) inch material,diameter of coil four (4) inches, length of spring seven and one-quarter7l) inches, the outer spring graduated to set to the length of theshorter spring under four thousand pounds pressure, the united springsadapted to afford an ultimate resistance of eight (8) tons. The aboveproportions are given simply as a matter of illustration, and not forpurposes of limitation, as the springs will necessarily vary as toultimate power of resistance, according to capacity of the car.

Another manner of accomplishing the same result is shown in Figs. 5 and6, wherein one or more helical springs are employed, said springs coiledfrom a bar or rod whose greatest portionsay middle half or tWdthirds-isof a diameter adapted to produce aspring whose power shall equal thegreatest ultimate resistance desired, while its ends are reduced{preferably tapered) to a diameter which will produce va coiled springof the least resistance, by which means a graduated draw-spring can beobtained of great initial elasticity combined with great ultimate power,substantially as hereinbefore set. forth.

A third manner of accomplishing the same result, and one naturallysuggested by Figs. l and 2, is that shown in Fig. 7-viz., theduplication of the follower-plates and the interposition of lightquick-acting springs c between the follower-plates at each end.

If desired, three or more helical springs of different lengths may benested as easily as two, and without further invention; but as no resultother than a graduated spring of the character shown in Figs. 1 and 2would be `lobtained, it has not beendecmed necessary to illustrate it.It is also evident that in the modified spring, Figs. 5 and 6, thecentral quarter or third of the bar may be of least diameter, so astegrade the spring at Vthecenter rather than at the ends.

The advantages are, as hereinbefore specified: A quick initial action ofthe draw-bar is obtained which will almost, if not entirely, avoid thebreaking of links, pins, Ste., permit the economical use of closecouplers, facilitate the starting and stopping of trains, and thedraw-bar can be adapted as to power to cars of any capacity with asgreat ease and as cheaply and simply as draw'bars of the present form.

I am aware that heretofore a rod having a piston or single follower atthe rear end of the rod and two or more springs of different lengthshave been combined to form a pullrod for cars, and that in conjunctionwith cars having such a pull-rod buffers having a piston, a cylinder,and a confined nest of springs of unequal lengths have also beenemployed, and do not herein claim such devices, as the pull-rod cannotperform the function of a buffer nor the buffer perform the function ofa pull-rod, and the two cannot be used advantageously on cars asconstructed in this country. Therefore,

Having thus set forth the nature, operation, and advantages of myinvention, whatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

In a combined draw-bar and buffer, the combination, with the movabledraw-head and its two follower-plates, of a graduated spring or springsinterposed between the followerplates, so as to be compressed when 4thedrawhead moves in either direction, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

In testimony whereof I. affix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses, this 2d day of January, 1886.

GEORGE H. POOR.

Vitxiesses:

HENRY A. XVAH nur, E. B. LEIGH.

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